Sunday, October 5, 2014

Oko.

I am terrified of mice. And so when i took my biscuit out of my box to find it half-chewed, i wasn't exactly at peace. I wrote this piece while hoping to get rid of it and save my food. And maybe assuage my fear of them. So um yeah. Enjoy.

Oko scurried from one end of the box to the other.

In his mind's eye, he could see the clock ticking. And it was ticking fast. He must hurry. This was a new spot, and he wasn't too sure of the humans he had seen on his way in. Well, one looked like she had an uncanny fondness for sleeping fits. Maybe they weren't like the others in the school. Maybe they had half-nights. Who knew?

He slowed down enough to sniff all the colourful contents of the box. He hoped they tasted as good as they looked and smelled. He took a quick survey of the contents. There were sweet-smelling cans, paper boxes, and - wait, what was that? It wasn't long till he recognized the all-too-familiar delicacy. CHEESE! 'Ahh Heaven!' he thought, as he took in a deep whiff. He had found it - the perfect home for Shoki and the kids. At least for the next month. They were always on the move. That was just life.

But first, he needed to be sure of their security. That meant 24 hours of investigation. Though he hadn't had any preliminary sleep, he would pull through. And anyway, there was cheese to cheer him up. Pulling off the wrapper, he sank his incisors into its deliciousness. Then moving to the corner of the box, he found a nook right in the middle of a can of beans, and two boxes of cereal (more protein and carbs, for when he decided to make his home desolate) and settled there. The perfect spot. He could observe and still be comfortable. Well, until the humans got rowdy. They became like that sometimes, and threw things about. Such careless creatures.

Looking to the brighter side, the spot held wonderful future prospects. It was spacious enough to contain Shoki too. On lazy days, they could get all tangled up in their tails, and rub each other's fur. Maybe more children. If the home promised to hold them longer than usual. His tail stiffened with the pleasure of the thought.

In a few beats, the lights in the room went on, and Oko caught a glimpse of a groggy-eyed human. Sighing deeply she bent down and to his dismay, pulled the lid of the box wide open. Oko began to feel overly self-conscious. What if it wasn't as good a hiding place as he had thought? Was this how he would die?
'Oh shut up, and trust your mouse instincts.' said his sub-conscience in Ga. He didn't always understand Ga. But this time he did. Not that it made him any sober. For he'd heard it said, that in one's dying moments, all the blessings he wished for in life are made available to him. For about 60 seconds. He had always wished to be bilingual.

The human was the crazy kind. Oko was close to suffering a concussion, had he not dodged a floating tin of corned beef. Next, a tin of milk whizzed very close by his place of comfort, and Oko ran for safety. Just then, she let out a shrill scream, and Oko knew he was in for real now. Mouse instincts or nah.

It didn't take long for the other human to appear, and in seconds the stick she had with her rested violently on his mid-section. Before he lost the battle to death, Oko wondered why they hadn't at least told him to 'Rest In Peace'. It was the least they could do after shattering his dreams.